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HOUSE No. 88. 



REPORT 

DELIVERANCE OF CITIZENS, 

LIABLE TO BE SOLD AS SLAVES. 



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March, 1839.] HOUSE—No. 38. 3 



eomnionto^altii of M^^^^ti^ximttu^ 



House of Representatives, March 6, 1839. 

The Special Joint Committee appointed by an order of 
the twenty-second of January last, " to inquire into 
the expediency of providing for the deliverance of citi- 
zens of this Commonwealth, who may be imprisoned 
and liable to be sold as slaves," 



REPORT: 

That it is inexpedient to legislate thereon, and ask to 
be discharged from the further consideration of the sub- 
ject. 

By order of the Committee, ^ 

THOMAS KINNICUTT, Chairman. 



March, 1839.] HOUSE— No. 38. 



^omtnonUiealtlj of lHais^ac!|Ufsett!S< 



House of Representatives. 

The undersigned, a minority of the Joint Special Com- 
mittee, appointed under an order of the House, to inquire 
into the expediency of providing for the deliverance of 
citizens of this Commonwealth, who may be imprisoned 
and liable to be sold as slaves, asks permission to sub- 
mit the following 

REPO RT. 

The fourth article of the Constitution of the United 
States contains this provision : " The citizens of each 
state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of 
citizens in the several states." 

"This provision in the Constitution," says Judge Story, 
in his Comm. vol. 3, p. 647, " is plain and simple in its 
language, and its object is not easily to be misunderstood. 
Connected with the exclusive power of naturalization in 
the general government, it puts at rest many of the dif- 
ficulties which affected the construction of the articles of 
confederation. It is obvious, if the citizens of each state 



DELIVERANCE OF CITIZENS, &c. [March, 

were to be aliens to each other, they could not take or 
hold real estate, or other privileges, except as other 
aliens. The intention of this clause was, to confer on 
them, if one may so say, a general citizenship ; and to 
communicate all the privileges and immunities which the 
citizens of the same state would be entitled to under the 
like circumstances." 

And upon this clause of the Constitution, we have, in 
the 4 mtsh. Ci. Ct. R. 380, Canfield v. Caigell, the fol- 
lowing remarks of the court, delivered by Washington, the 
presiding judge : " The inquiry is, what are the privi- 
leges and immunities of citizens in the several states? 
We feel no hesitation in confining these expressions to 
those privileges and immunities which are in their nature 
fundamental, whicii belong of right to the citizens of all 
free governments ; and which have, at all times, been 
enjoyed by the citizens of the several states which com- 
pose this Union, from the time of their becoming free, 
independent, and sovereign. What these fundamental 
principles are, it would, perhaps, be more tedious than 
difficult to enumerate. The right of a citizen of one 
state to pass through or reside in any other state, for 
the purposes of trade, agriculture, professional pursuits, 
or otherwise, are among the rights secured. These, and 
many others which might be mentioned, are, strictly 
speaking, privileges and immunities ; and the enjoyment 
of them by the citizens of each state, was manifestly cal- 
culated (to use the expressions of the preamble of the 
corresponding provision in the articles of confederation,) 
" the better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendshi| 
and intercourse among the people of the different states 
of the Union." 

The several laws, now in force in different slave-hold- 



1839.] HOUSE— No. 38. 1 

ing states of this Union, which were presented to the 
consideration of your Committee, are deemed bj the un- 
dersigned to be in flagrant viohition of this article of the 
Constitution of these United States. He also deems 
them an outrage upon the rights of the citizens of Massa- 
chusetts, and utterly subversive of that great principle of 
the common law, which regards as sacred the person 
of every citizen, who stands unaccused of crime. And 
he cannot entertain a doubt, that they will be so deemed 
by this Legislature, and by the people of this Common- 
wealth. For, under the operation of those laws, free- 
born citizens of this State, and consequently of the United 
States also, against whom no crime has been proved, or 
even charged, may be arrested, imprisoned, and sold into 
servitude. This not only may be done, but it has been 
done. And it has been done often ; in cases almost in- 
numerable. A large number of these cases were laid be- 
fore your Committee. They were presented as speci- 
mens of the oppression and cruelty which are daily in- 
flicted, as well upon citizens of this, as upon those of 
other free states, under the operation of the laws in 
question. 

The undersigned begs leave to introduce, as a part of 
this report, some of the laws which were laid before your 
Committee, together with a few of the numerous instan- 
ces of oppression and cruelty that are known to have oc- 
curred under them, and which were also adverted to be- 
fore your Committee. He adopts this mode as the readi- 
est way of bringing this subject fairly before the Legisla- 
ture ; believing, that its members need but a simple state- 
ment of the facts in the case, to induce them to bestow 
on the subject that degree of consideration which its deep 
tmportance demands, and to take such measures in rela- 



8 DELIVERANCE OF CITIZENS, &c. [March, 

tion to it, as shall evince a just regard for the rights of 
our citizens, and for the dignity and honor of this ancient 
Commonwealth. 

For convenience of reference, the lavv^s in question vv'ill 
be divided into two classes, and arranged under the names 
of the several states, from whose respective statute-books 
they have been transcribed. Examples of the oppressions 
known to have occurred under these laws, will be given 
under each class respectively. The first of these classes 
affect our citizens of color only ; the other affect also the 
masters of our vessels, visiting the ports of slave-hold- 
ing states. 

But, previous to beginning this citation, it will not, per- 
haps, be inappropriate to mention, that in the slave-hold- 
ing states, a dark skin affords a legal presumption that its 
possessor is a slave. Thus, an act of South Carolina says : 
" And it shall be always presumed, that every negro, mu- 
latto, or mestizo, is a slave, unless the contrary be made 
to appear, (the Indians in comity with this government 
excepted.)" [2 Brevard's Digest, pp. 229-30, quoted 
by Judge Stroud, p. 77.] The act of Georgia touching 
this subject is almost literally a copy of this of South Car- 
olina. And it is believed that this doctrine of presump- 
tion obtains in all the slave-holding states, with the ex- 
ception of some one or two, where it is confined to negroes 
of the whole blood. But even where this limitation is 
recognised, it is little regarded in practice, as will present- 
ly appear. It should be added, that no suit can be brought 
for the recovery of the liberty of a citizen claimed as a 
slave, on the ground of his complexion, except by a white 
person ; and that, should judgment go against the plain- 
tiff, this same act of S. C. empowers the court " to inflict 
such corporal punishment, not extending to life or limb, 



1839.] HOUSE--NO. 38 9 

on the ward of the plaintiff, as they in their discretion 
shall see fit." [See Stroud, p. 77.] Of the whole design 
of this act, the undersigned does not feel called on to 
express an opinion. But its inevitable tendency is obvi- 
ous. It must necessarily prevent many a freeman, who 
has been robbed of his liberty, from availing himself of 
the legal provisions for regaining that liberty. He would 
fear to permit a friend to sue for his restoration to free- 
dom, lest, by the failure of such suit, he should be visited 
with evils almost as terrible to him, as the loss of his lib- 
erty. 

It may also be well enough to remark here, that the 
subject of the present report has no connexion whatever, 
with the " existing topic,'' so called, of abolition. The 
subject is one which seriously concerns all — whether abo- 
litionists or anti-abolitionists — who have the slightest re- 
gard, either for the personal safety of our seven thousand 
colored citizens, or for the interests and undoubted rights 
of our merchants and masters of vessels. 

In making the proposed citation of laws, the under- 
signed will begin with the state of 

North Carolina. — " It shall not be lawful hereafter, for any free 
negro or mulatto to migrate into this state : and if he or she shall do 
so, contrary to the provisions of this act, and being thereof informed, 
shall not, within twenty days thereafter remove out of the state, he or 
she being thereof convicted in manner hereinafter directed, shall be li- 
able to a penalty of five hundred dollars : and upon failure to pay the 
same, within the time prescribed in the judgment awarded against such 
person or persons, he or she shall be liable to be held in servitude and 
at labor, for a term of time not exceeding ten years, in such manner and 
upon such terms as may be prescribed by the court awarding such sen- 
tence ; and the proceeds arising therefrom shall be paid over to the 
county trustee for county purposes," &-c. &,c. — Laws of North Caro^ 
Una, 1826, Chap. 21. 
Again : 



10 DELIVERANCE OF CITIZENS, &c. [March. 

" Whenever any negro slave shall be taken up in this state as a run- 
away, and confined in any jail for the space of twelve months, and the 
apprehension and confinement of said slave have been advertised in the 
State Gazette at least six months, and the owner does not apply to prove 
property in said time, then it shall be lawful for the court of pleas and 
quarter sessions of the county in which said runaway is confined, to 
command their sheriff to expose said negro slave to sale for ready mo- 
ney, giving three months' notice in some public newspaper in this state, 
at the court-house door, and at two other public places in the said 
county, of the time and place of sale, and of the circumstances under 
which the said slave is to be sold." — Revised Statutes of North Caro- 
lina, Chap. CXI, Sec. 16, Vol. 1. 

Virginia. — " All free negroes and mulattoes, who shall be convicted 
of remaining in this Commonwealth contrary to law, and who shall be- 
come liable to be sold, according to the provisions of former laws and 
of this act, shall be publicly sold by the sheriff or sergeant, at the front 
door of the court-house of the county or corporation, on a court day, 
in pursuance of notice of such sale posted at such court-house door at 
the court held in the preceding month." — Laws of Virginia, 1830 
Chap. 39. 

South Carolina. — " From and after the first day of March next, it 
shall not be lawful for any free negro or mulatto to migrate into this 
state ; and every free negro or mulatto who shall migrate into this 
state, contrary to this act, shall and may be apprehended and carried 
by any white person before some Justice of the Peace of the district 
or parish, where he or she shall be taken ; which justice is hereby au- 
thorized and required to examine such free negro or mulatto, and to or- 
der him or her to leave the state. And every free negro or mulatto so 
ordered to leave the state, and thereafter remaining longer than fifteen 
days within the same, or having left the state, and thereafter returning 
to the state, (unless it be in consequence of shipwreck, or some una- 
voidable accident, or as a seaman on board or belonging to a vessel, with 
which he shall depart, or as a servant to any white person travelling in- 
to this state,) upon proof thereof made before any magistrate and three 
freeholders, and on conviction thereof, shall be subjected to a fine of 
twenty dollars; and in default of the payment thereof, shall be publicly 
sold, after ten days' notice, for a term not exceeding five years ; and if 
such free negro, mulatto, or mustizo, shall be found in this state after 



1839.] HOUSE— No. 38. 11 

the lapse of ten days, after paying such fine, or after such servitude un- 
der such sale, he, she, or they, shall be liable to be proceeded against 
in like manner, and shall be sold for the like sum, and for a term not 
exceeding five years, until such slave or slaves shall depart the state." 
— Lmos of South Carolina, 1826, p. 22. 

Tennessee. — " In all cases where any slave shall have been com- 
mitted to any of the jails of this state as a runaway, and shall have been 
duly advertised by said jailer as required by the laws of this state, and 
shall not be claimed or proved away by the owner of such slave or run- 
away, and shall have been imprisoned for the term of twelve months, it 
may and shall be lawful for the sheriff of any county in this state, and 
he is hereby empowered, having previously advertised the same thirty 
days, to expose such negro slave to public sale to the highest bidder, at 
the court-house door of the county of which he is sheriff, and the pro- 
ceeds of said sale shall first be applied to pay all costs and jailer's fees, 
and the surplus, if any, paid over to the county trustee of the county, to 
be used for county purposes ; and said sheriff, upon making such sale, 
shall, and is hereby directed and empowered to make a bill of sale of 
any slave to the purchaser, so sold, which shall vest a good title to said 
slave." — Laws of Tennessee, Voll,j)]j. 323-24. 

Georgia. — " From and after the first day of June next, it shall not 
be lawful for any person of color, other than a slave, or a free person 
of color duly registered in manner aforesaid, to remain in this state ; 
and if any free person of color, other than as aforesaid, shall be found 
in this state after the said first day of June next, he or she shall be ar- 
rested and tried, and if convicted of a violation of this law, he or she 
shall pay a fine of ^100, and in default of such payment, it shall be law- 
ful for the court to bind them out as laborers until the fine is paid by 
the hire of such labor; and, moreover, shall be liable and subject to a 
repetition of such conviction, fine, and imprisonment, at the end of 
thirty days after any such conviction and payment of such fine, until he 
or she shall actually depart this state, and that it shall be the duty of 
such [each] and every civil officer of this state to carry into effect this 
law." — Prince's Digest of the Laws of Georgia, p. 810. 

In an act of this state, " respecting runaway slaves," we have a 
section to this effect : " If no person appears to claim and prove prop- 
erty in said slave [that is, any colored person, sluy free colored person, 



12 DELIVERANCE OF CITIZENS, &c. [March, 

who may have been taken up as a runaway, and is unable to prove his 
freedom] then it shall be the duty of said sheriff to sell said slave for 
cash to the highest bidder, and after paying jail fees and all other ex- 
penses that may have been incurred on account of said slave, to pay 
over the balance to the clerk of the inferior court to become and used 
as county funds." — lb. p. 806. 

Louisiana. — " In case the owner of said slave, [that is, any person 
of color, arrested as a runaway slave] shall not claim said slave within 
two years from the date of the first advertisement in the newspapers in 
compliance with the preceding section, then and in that case, it 
shall be the duty of the treasurer of the city, for negroes confined in 
the city of New Orleans, and of the sheriffs, for negroes confined in 
the counties, to cause the said negro to be sold, by and with the leave 
of the judge of their respective county first obtained, at public sale 
to the highest bidder, after three advertisements successively in the 
newspapers according to practice," &c. — Martin's Digest of the Laws 
of Louisiana, p. 626. 

The laws which have thus been quoted from the stat- 
ute-books of six different slave-holding states, may be re- 
garded as specimens of the laws now in force on this sub- 
ject throughout the slave-holding states. Of course, it 
would be easy to extend the list, if it were deemed de- 
sirable. 

Now, to show that these laws are not inoperative — a 
dead letter upon the pages of the statute-book — the fol- 
lowing facts are submitted. They are a few out of a 
vast multitude, to which the attention of the undersigned 
has been directed. 

On the 27th February last, the undersigned had an in- 
terview with the Rev. Samuel Snowden, a respectal)le 
and an intelligent clergyman of the city of Boston. This 
gentlemen stated, and he is now ready to make oath, that, 
during the last six years, he has himself, by the aid of 
various benevolent individuals, procured the deliverance 
from jail of six citizens of Massachusetts, who had been 



1839.] HOUSE— No. 33. 13 

arrested and imprisoned as runaway slaves, and who, but 
for his limely interposition, would have been sold into 
perpetual bondage. The names and the places of im- 
prisonment of those persons, as stated by Mr. S., were as 
follows : 

James Hight, imprisoned at Mobile ; William Adams, 
at Norfolk ; William Holmes, also at Norfolk ; James 
Oxford, at Wilmington ; James Smith, at Baton Rouge ; 
John Tidd, at New Orleans. 

It should be mentioned, that with regard to the place 
of the imprisonment of one of these men, James Oxford, 
Mr. S. was not, at the time of his interview with the 
undersigned, positively certain. He, however, believed 
it was Wilmington, as above stated. 

In 1836, iViary Smith, a native of this State, returning 
from New Orleans, whither she had been in the capacity 
of a servant, was cast upon the shores of North Carolina. 
She was there seized and sold as a slave. Information 
of the fact reached her friends at Boston. Tho>e friends 
made an effort to obtain her liberation. They invoked 
the assistance of the Governor of this Commonwealth. 
A correspondence ensued between His Excellency and 
the Governor of North Carolina ; copies of which were 
oifered for the inspection of your Committee. Soon af- 
terwards, by permission of the authorities of North Caro- 
lina, "Mary Smith" returned to Boston. But it turned 
out, that this was not the Mary Smith, whom our worthy 
Governor, and other excellent individuals of Boston, had 
taken so unwearied pains to redeem irom slavery. It 
was another woman of the same name, who was also a 
native of Massachusetts, and had been seized in North 
Carolina as a runaway slave. The Mary Smith has not 



14 DELIVERANCE OF CITIZENS, &c. [Majch, 

yet been heard of. If alive, she is now, in all probability, 
wearing the chains of slavery. 

About a year and a half since, several citizens of dif- 
ferent free states were rescued from slavery, at New 
Orleans, by the direct personal efforts of an acquaintance 
of the undersigned. The benevolent individual alluded 
to is Jacob Barker, Esq., a name not unknown to the 
commercial world. Mr. Barker is a resident of New 
Orleans. A statement of the cases in reference is con- 
tained in a letter addressed by him to the Hon. Samuel 
H. Jenks, of Nantucket. The following is a copy of 
that letter, which, though it contains remarks not neces- 
sary to the statement itself, is deemed by the undersigned 
worthy of a place in this report. 

" New Orleans, Aug. 19th, 1837. 

"Dear Sir: Will you advise blacks visiting this section of the 
country from your quarter, to provide themselves with a certificate of 
their freedom from the Governor of the state to which they belong. 

" The laws of Louisiana presume all blacks to be slaves, and when 
found at large are presumed to be runaways, and as such are arrested 
and placed in the chain-gang, to work on the roads. Custom-house 
protections are not considered as proof of freedom. 

"But for the necessity of having such men as sailors, laborers, fire- 
men, cooks, and stewards, on board our ships and steamboats, I would 
advise them not to come here on any consideration whatever. Their 
exclusion would be so very detrimental to the commerce of the United- 
States, and particularly of New Orleans, that some other remedy must 
be provided, if possible. It is strange the authorities are not influ- 
enced by the interest of this city, purely commercial, to pursue a more 
liberal course. 

"As far as my observation extends, those of the lower or third Muni- 
cipality are the most rigid ; and if they do not alter their course, all 
vessels having blacks on board, should avoid landing there, and pro- 
ceed to the upper part of the city. This can be done without incon- 
venience or expense, and would so materially affect the prosperity of 
the lower Municipality, that they would be induced to examine whether 
or not they could safely change their course. 



1839.] HOUSE— No. 38. 15 

" Free people of color suffer very much by the improper interference 
of the abolition fanatics of the North. Their interference makes mas- 
ters much more rigid with their slaves, and the authorities much more 
severe in relation to free persons of color, than they otherwise would 
be. Those abolitionists are mistaken about the condition of the slaves 
in Louisiana: they are better fed and clad, more healthy and moral 
than the blacks at the North, and in general appear happy and in good 
spirits — the abstract question of slavery being settled by the Constitu- 
tion, is not debateable. 

" A free man belonging to Baltimore by the name of Ephraim Larkin, 
who came here cook of the William Tell, was arrested and thrown into 
prison a few weeks since, and sent in chains to work on the road. I 
heard of it, and with difficulty found him; and after the most diligent 
and active exertions, got him released — in effecting which 1 travelled 
in the heat of the day, thermometer ranging in the shade from 94 to 100, 
more than twenty times to and from prison, the place of his labor, and 
the different courts, a distance of near three miles from my residence ; 
and after I had established his freedom had to pay for his arrest, main- 
tenance, and the advertising him as a runaway slave, $29.89, as per 
copy of bill herewith — the allowance for work not equalling the ex- 
penses, the amount augments with every day of confinement. 

" I cannot believe the laws of Louisiana require these expenses from 
free people of color. They apply only to slaves : as when a black 
person is arrested, if not claimed as a slave or proved to be free in two 
years, he is sold as a slave ; hence it follows that those free men who 
are arrested, being without money to pay such expenses, become slaves 
by the operation of the laws of Louisiana, as expounded by the aU'^ 
thorities of the third Municipality. 

" In pursuing the cook of the William Tell, I found three other free 
men confined in the same prison, one belonged also to Baltimore, by 
the name of Leaven Dogerty : he was also released on my paying 
$28.00 expenses ; one was a descendant of the Indians who once in- 
habited Nantucket — -his name is Eral Lonnon, the grandson of Sarah 
Tashmy, who with Peter Micha and Joshua Chicken were the only 
three Indians I remember to have lived at Nantucket during my boy- 
hood. Peter Micha then saved my life : he was, on a warm summer's 
day, sitting in the shade of Barney Bunker's mill, in approaching which 
my horse fell and rolled on me, so that I could neither move nor call 
for help : when the old Indian sprang from his seat, swung his staff 
and shouted until he caused the horse to release me — and I am very 



16 DELIVERANCE OF CITIZENS, &c. [March, 

happy to have had an opportunity to render a service to one of the few 
that remain of his tribe, before they become extinct. Lonnon had 
been six weeks in prison ; he was released without difficulty on my 
paying $20.38 expenses, and no one seemed tb know why he had been 
confined or arrested, as the law does not presume persons of mixed 
blood to be slaves. But for the others, I had great difficulty in pro- 
curing what was considered competent witnesses to prove them free. 
No complaint of improper conduct had been made against either of 
them. At one time, the Recorder said the witness must be white, at 
another, that one respectable witness was insufficient, at another, that 
a person who had been (improperly) confined and released was not a 
competent witness, &-c. fcc. Lonnon has been employed in the South 
Sea fishery from Nantucket and New Bedford, nearly all his life ; has 
sailed on those voyages in the ships Eagle, Maryland, Gideon, Triton, 
and Samuel. He was born at Marshpee, Plymouth [Barnstable] coun- 
ty, Massachusetts, and prefers to encounter the leviathan of the deep, 
rather than the turn-keys of New Orleans. 

" The other was born in St. Johns, Nova Scotia, and bears the 
name of William Smith, a seaman by profession, and from his own 
story I was persuaded that he was free. I therefore reported his case 
to Mr. Crawford, the British consul, who, with his accustomed prompt- 
ness and humanity, applied for Smith's release, which was granted on 
the payment of like expenses. 

" Immediately after these men were released, two others were arrest- 
ed. They attempted to escape, and being pursued, ran for the river 
in the vain hope of being able to swim across the Mississippi, a dis- 
tance of a mile, with a current of four knots — one soon gave out and 
made for a boat which had been despatched for their recovery, and 
was saved ; the other being a better swimmer continued on until much 
exhausted, then also made for the boat — it was too late; he sank be- 
fore the boat could reach him, and was drowned. They claimed to 
be free men. Whether they were or not, I have not been able to as- 
certain. 

" On Sunday last I was called to the prison of the Municipality in 
which I reside, to serve on an inquest on the body of a drowned man. 
There I saw one other free man confined, by the name of Henry Tier, 
a yellow man, born in New York, and formerly in my employ. He 
had been confined as a supposed runaway, near six months, without a 
particle of testimony ; although from his color, the laws of Louisiana 
presume him to be free. I applied immediately for his release, which 



1839.] ' HOUSE— No. 38. 17 

was promptly granted; at first, expenses similar to those exacted in the 
third Municipality, were required; but on my demonstrating to the 
Recorder that the law imposed no such burthen on free men, he was 
released without any charge whatever. How free men can obtain sat- 
isfaction for having been thus wrongfully imprisoned and made to 
work in chains on the highway, is not for me to decide. I apprehend 
no satisfaction can be had without more active friends, willing to 
espouse their cause, than can be found in this quarter. Therefore I 
repeat, that no person of color should come here without a certificate 
of freedom from the governor of the state to which he belongs. 

" Very respectfully, your assured friend, 

"JACOB BARKER,." 

" N. B. Since writing the preceding, I have procured the release 
of another free man from the prison of the third Municipality, on the 
payment of §39.6.5, as per bill, copy herewith. His name is William 
Lockman, he was born in New Jersey, of free parents, and resides at 
Philadelphia. A greater sum was required, which was reduced by the 
allowance of his maintenance (written labor) while at work on the 
road, which the law requires the Municipality to pay ; but it had not 
before been so expounded in the third Municipality. I hope to get it 
back in the case of the other three. The allowance for labor in ad- 
dition to their maintenance is twenty-five cents per day ; but they re- 
quire these illiterate men to advance the whole before they can leave 
the prison, and then to take a certificate for their labor and go for it 
to another department — to collect which, is ten times more trouble 
than the money when received is worth. While these free men, with- 
out having committed any fault, were compelled to work in chains on 
the roads in the burning sun for 25 cents per day, and pay in advance 
18 3-4 cents per day for maintenance, doctor's, and other bills, and 
not able to work half their time, I paid others working on ship board, 
in sight, two dollars per day. 

" J. B." 

Here were six men, known to be free born American 
citizens, Jirrcslefl, imprisoned, and doomed, like felons, to 
work in " t!ie chain-^ang ;" and two others, wiio claimed 
to be freemen, attempting to escape a similar doom by 



18 DELIVERANCE OF CITIZENS, &c. [March, 

swimming the Mississippi, and one of them perishing in 
the attempt. And these men, be it remembered, against 
none of whom had any crime been alleged, would all 
have been, as probably the one who escaped drowning 
was, sold into slavery, but for the noble generousness of 
an individual, who had incidentally become acquainted 
with their condition. 

During the last winter, a gentleman, now a member 
of this House, passed some time at New Orleans. As he 
was one day walking the streets of that city, he chanced 
to fall in with a "chain-gang ;" that is, with a collection 
of colored persons at work in chains on the public road. 
In the person of one of this " gang," he instantly re- 
cognized an old and a valued acquaintance. It was a 
freeman, who had been several years in that gentleman's 
employment. On inquiry, it was found, that he had, not 
long since, arrived in that city from the North, on board 
of a schooner ; that, happening to be absent, though but 
a short distance from the vessel, one evening, as the 
eight o'clock gun was fired, he was arrested, while hast- 
ening on board, as a runaway slave ; that he had en- 
deavored in vain to get information of his situation to his 
captain ; that the vessel had sailed ; and that consequent- 
ly there seemed no other hope for him, but to toil in 
" the chain gang," during the residue of a twelvemonth, 
and then to be sold as a slave for life. The liberation 
of this unfortunate man was not effected without con- 
siderable difficulty and painstaking on the part of the 
gentleman effecting it. It was by the merest accident, 
that he escaped being sold as a slave. 

A case similar to those just adverted to, as occurrino; at 
New Orleans, occurred, a few months since, in Virginia. 
It has been given to the public through the columns of a 



1839.] HOUSE—No. 38. 19 

New York paper, the Columbia County Republican, in 
the form of the follovvin gnarrative : 

" To THE Public. — It seems due to the inhabitants of Hudson and 
its vicinity, who so liberally came forward to redeem one of their own 
citizens from impending slavery, to have a correct statement of the 
affair and its result laid before them. 

" It seems that Jeremiah H. Winney, of Athens, N. Y., received a 
letter from the jailer of Surrey county, Virginia, stating that a black 
man who called himself Prince Matice, had been committed to his cus- 
tody as a runaway slave, and if not proved to be free, would be sold 
as a slave, for his jail fees and sundry other expenses, enumerated iu 
said letter, and amounting at that time to a considerable sum, which 
was daily accumulating. 

" Prince Matice it seems was born at Schoharie, in this State, and 
lived several years with Elizabeth Copely, of Harpersfield, a sister of 
Jeremiah H. Winney's ; that he afterwards removed to Athens, and 
sailed one season in the sloop William Henry, belonging to Alexander 
Shaw ; that the season following he went in one of the Hudson barges. 
He afterwards shipped for the West Indies, and from thence to France 
and back. On arriving in the West Indies on his return voyage, he 
was taken sick and left in a Hospital, the captain promising to pay 
him his wages when he returned to Philadelphia, which he expected 
would be about the commencement of the year 1838. On his recovey. 
Prince took shipping for a southern port, and while travelling by land 
was seized as above stated, and informed us through the jailor that he 
was willing to pledge his coming wages, if he ever received them, to 
any one who would go on and release him. 

" After procuring the necessary legal documents, it was deemed 
best to make the following application : 

" ' To William L. Marcy, Governor of the State of New York, the 
following case is respectfully submitted : 

" ' From the accompanying documents it appears that Prince Ma- 
tice, a free colored citizen of this State, formerly of Harpersfield, Del- 
aware county, and late of this place, is imprisoned in the State of 
Virginia for no crime, and is likely to be sold for a slave. 

" 'This community conceive there is no obligation on them to raise 
the money demanded as jail fees for this individual, when justice re- 



20 DELIVERANCE OF CITIZENS, &c. [March, 

quires that the sufferer should himself be remunerated, and are not 
inclined to accept his pledge to refund hereafter his hard earnings for 
that purpose. 

" ' The trouble and expense of going on for him would be great, 
and such is the state of things South, that possibly Northern men 
might not be able to effect his release with safety to themselves. The 
Governor is respectfully solicited to apply for his release as a citizen 
of this State, not charged with any crime, from the proper authority 
in Virginia. 

" 'R. McKINSTRY, 31ai/or of Hudson. 

" 'N. B. The bearer, Charles Marriot, intends presenting the 

above petition, who will be able to give further information on the 

subject. 

" 'R. McK. 

" ' Hudson, 5th mo. 23d, 1838.' 

*' The above was carried to the lodgings of the Governor in Albany, 
but he had just left for the frontier, on account of the troubles in 
Canada, and it did not reach him. 

" Jeremiah II. Winney having offered to go on to Virginia to iden- 
tify P. Matice, if furnished with the means, fSO were raised by vol- 
untary subscription, and paid to him for that purpose. He appears to 
have faithfully fulfilled his embassy. His testimony given before the 
Court then sitting in Surrey Court House, was favorably received, the 
jailer's fees were reduced, and Prince Matice liberated. Prince has 
since returned, and called on some of the subscribers in Hudson and 
Athens, to thank them for their generous and successful efforts to save 
him from slavery. 

" A number of the citizens of Harpersfield, much to their credit, 
sent on official evidence, with offers of their services on this occasion. 

" This subject calls for serious consideration. Cases of a similar 
kind are of but too frequent occurrence. Favorable circumstances 
only enabled this individual to escape at the cost of this community 
of 880. And yet, the civil authorities of Virginia, so far from exceed- 
ing the law, acted with great liberality, and gave us every facility the 
case afforded. And these our citizens, though entitled by the Consti- 
tution to all the rights and privileges of citizens in each of ihe states, 
if they travel South are liable to be seized and sold into slavery. Is 
there no remedy for this ? If there be not, then indeed are we reducftd 



1839.] HOUSE— No. 38. 21 

to the sad alternative that would have awaited us had they been cap- 
tured formerly by the Algerines, viz. to have provided funds for their 
redemption, or abandon them to hopeless and perpetual servitude. 

" C. M. 
" 1st Month, 1839." 

The following advertisement is extracted from a Mis- 
sissij)pi paper of December last : 

" $50 Reward. — -Ran away from the subscriber, on Thursday last, 
a negro man named Isaac, 22 years old, about 5 feet 10 or 11 inches 
high, dark complexion, well made, full face, speaks quick, and very 
correctly for a negro; wore off a blue frock cloth coat, cassimere 
roundabout and cloth pantaloons. He was originally from New York 
and no doubt will attempt to pass himself as free. I will give the above 
reward for his apprehension and delivery or confinement so that I ob' 
tain him, if taken out of the State, or f30 if taken within the State. 

" Memphis, Dec. 28 -tf Jno. Simpson." 

A New York paper of the 9th ult. declares, that the 
" negro man'" referred to in this advertisement is a citizen 
of that state ; that his name is Isaac Wright; that he 
was sold as a slave at New Orleans from on board a 
steamboat, on which he had shipped as a fireman ; that 
information of this fact having been received by his friends 
in New York, one of them resolved on attempting his de- 
liverance, and for that purpose proceeded to Mississippi ; 
that by the aid of a colored person in the vicinity of his 
confinement, he succeeded in finding the man who had 
been thus robbed of his liberty ,* and that they were both, 
at the date of the paper in question, on their way back to 
the city of New York. 

And in the Baltimore papers of the early part of the 
last month, an advertisetnent appeared, stating, that a col- 
ored man named John Thomas, who affirmed himself to 
be free, and to have been born and brought up in Boston 
4 



22 DELIVERANCE OF CITIZENS, &c. [March. 

had been conimitled to jail in that city as a rnnawaj 
slave; and that if he was not speedily claimed by his 
owner, he would be sold for the payment of charges. 

Whether this person is, or is not, a freeman, the im- 
dersiiined has no means of knowins. 

The foregoing are a few of the almost innumerable ca- 
ses of oppression known to have occurred under the oper- 
ation of that class of the laws of slave-holding states, from 
which extracts have been given in this report. Extracts 
from those of the other class, to which reference was 
made will now be given — -beginning with 

Georgia. — •' All ships or vessels coming into any port of this State 
by sea, from any port or place in any other state, or any foreign coun- 
try, having on board any free negro or free person of color, employed 
as a steward, mariner, or in any other capacity, or as a passenger, shall 
be subject to quarantine for the space of forty days." 

" If any free negro or person of color, so coming in the said ship or 
vessel, shall come on shore, or have any communication with any per- 
son of color residing in this state, while the said ship or vessel shall be 
riding at quarantine as aforesaid, such negro or person of color shall be 
immediately apprehended, and committed to the common jail of the 
county where he shall be apprehended, &/C. &-c., there to remain until 
the said ship or vessel shall be actually departing from the waters of 
this state, or shall be hauled off from the wharf and ready to proceed to 
sea, or until he or she shall be otherwise discharged by law." — Laws 
of Georgia, 1829, pp. 168-69. See also Prince's Digest of Laws 
of Georgia, pp. 802—3; and the Laws of North Caj^olina, 1830, 
Chap. 30. 



" Any person who shall remove or carry, or cause to be removed or 
carried away out of this state, or any county thereof, any slave, being 
the property of another person, without the consent of the owner, or 
other person having authority to give such consent, and without any in- 
tention or design on the part of the offender, to sell or otherwipe appro- 
priate the said slave to his own use, or to deprive the owner of his pro- 
perty in said slave, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and be punished 



1839.] HOUSE— No. 38. 23 

by fine, or imprisonment in the common jail of the county, or both, at 
the discretion of the court." — Prince's Digest of the Laws of Georgia, 
p. 656. 

South Carolina. — " From and after the passing this act, it shall 
not be lawful for any free negro or person of color to migrate into this 
state, or be brought or introduced into its limits under any pretext 
whatever, by land or by water, &c. 6ic. 

" It shall not be lawful for any free negro or person of color to come 
into this state on board of any vessel as a cook, steward, or mariner, 
or any other employment on board of such vessel ; and in case any ves- 
sel shall arrive in any port or harbor of this state, from any other state 
or foreign port, having on board any free negro or person of color, em- 
ployed on board such vessel as a cook, steward, or mariner, or in any 
other employment, it shall be the duty of the sheriff of the district in 
which such port or harbor is situated, immediately on the arrival of 
such vessel, to apprehend such free negro or person of color so arriving 
contrary to this act, and to confine him closely in jail until such ves- 
sel shall be hauled off from the wharf, and ready to proceed to sea ; and 
that when said vessel is ready to sail, the captain of the said vessel 
shall be bound to carry away the said free negro or person of color, and 
to pay the expenses of his detention ; and in case such captain shall re- 
fuse or neglect to pay the said expenses, and to carry away the said free 
negro or person of color, he shall forfeit and pay the sum of one thou- 
sand dollars, and be liable to be indicted therefor, and also to suffer 
imprisonment for any term or time not exceeding six months." — Laws 
of South Carolina, 1823, C/<ap, 20. See also Revised Code of Missis- 
sippi, p. 337. 

Virginia. — " Whoever shall hereafter carry, or cause to be carried, 
any slave or slaves out of this Commonwealth, * * * * without 
the consent of the owner or owners of such slave or slaves, or of the 
guardian of such owner or owners, if he she or they be a minor or 
minors, and with intention to defraud or deprive such owner or own- 
ers of such slave or slaves, shall be adjudged guilty of felony, and upon 
conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not less than five 
hundred dollars, and shall also be imprisoned in the jail or penitentiary 
house, for a period not less than two nor more than four years, which 
fine and imprisonment shall be fixed and ascertained by a jury. And 
the person offending herein shall moreover be subjected to pay to the 



24 DELIVERANCE OF CITIZENS, &c. [March. 

owner or owners of the slave or slaves, carried away as aforesaid^ 
double the value of such slave or slaves. 

And as doubts may arise, as to what shall be considered such a car- 
rying away or removal within the meaning of the last section ; Be it 
further enacted, That not only all those who shall willingly and designed- 
ly carry away slaves as aforesaid, but all masters of vessels, who, having 
a slave or slaves on board their vessels, shall sail beyond the limits of 
any county, with such slave or slaves on board, shall be considered as 
carrying off or removing such slave or slaves within the true intent and 
meaning thereof." — Revised Code of the Laws of Virginia, p. 428. 

Louisiana. — " If any master or commander of any ship, vessel, or 
other water craft in this state, or any other person, shall carry and con- 
vey out of the same, on board of any such ship, vessel, or other water- 
craft, any slave or slaves, the property of any person or persons of this 
state, without the consent of the owner or owners of the said slave 
or slaves previously obtained; or shall take and receive on board ot 
any such ships, vessels, or other water craft, any such slave or slaves, 
or permit or suffer the same to be done, with the intent and for the pur- 
pose of carrying and conveying such slave or slaves out of this state; 
or shall wickedly and willingly conceal or permit to be concealed on 
board of any such ship, vessel, or other water craft, any slave or slaves 
who shall or may hereafter abscond from their master or mistress, with 
the intent and for the purpose of enabling such slave or slaves to effect 
his or her escape out of this state, every such master or commander of 
any such ship, vessel, or other water craft, or any other person, so carrying 
and conveying, or so taking, receiving, and concealing, or causing or 
permitting the same to be done with an intent as aforesaid, shall be 
subject to a criminal prosecution, and on conviction of any of the said 
offences, shall suffer imprisonment at hard labor for a term not exceed- 
ing seven years, and not less than three years, and moreover the said 
master or commander, or any other person, shall be sentenced to pay 
all the damages that the owner or owners of the said slave or slaves may 
have suffered thereby, which damages shall be assessed by the same 
jury who shall give their verdict on the criminal prosecution; Pro- 
vided, That whenever any slave or slaves shall be found on board rny 
ship, vessel, or other water craft, the presumption shall be that such 
slave or slaves were received or concealed on board said ship, vessel or 
other water craft, with the intent aforesaid, saving to the party accused 



1839.] HOUSE— No. 38. 25 

the right of showing the contrary." — Martin's Digest of the Laics of 
Louisiana, pp. 676, 678. 

Cases of oppression of free citizens of Massachusetts, 
and of oilier free states, occurring under the operation of 
this class of the laws of slaveholding states, though gen- 
erally somewhat less severe, are not less frequent, than 
those which occur under the operation of the former 
class. The laws are rigidly enforced, and their effect is 
therefore perpetually and severely felt, lioth hy our color- 
ed citizens employed on board of vessels visiting the ports 
of southern states, and by the wncolored masters of such 
vessels. In pursuance of the plan adopted in the present 
report, a few of those facts of oppression will be now 
submitted. They are presented, like the other facts 
which have been given in this report, as specimens. 

Several affidavits of colored citizens of New Bedford, 
in this State, who have suffered under the laws in ques- 
tion, were laid before your Committee. The following 
are copies of a couple of those affidavits : 

" I, John Cory, a free born citizen of Massachusetts, a native of the 
town of Westport in this State, do declare, that in the A. D. 1824, I 
shipped, as steward, on board of sloop Rodman, Peleg Crowe), master, 
for a trading voyage, that in course of said voyage the sloop aforesaid 
put into Charleston, in the state of South Carolina, that as soon as we 
arrived at said Charleston, a couple of persons, calling themselves offi- 
cers, came on board, and demanded me of Capt. Crowel for the pur- 
pose of putting me in jail. Captain remonstrated, offered to be my 
surety for good behavior, offered to prove my birth, but all was una- 
vailing. I was taken from the sloop and shut up in a jail for the peri- 
od of about sixteen days, when the sloop having got ready to sail I was 
released and put on board. While I was imprisoned as aforesaid, seven 
others, colored like myself, were in prison. No offence was charged 
upon any of us. We were told it was necessary for the security of 
their state to keep us in prison. John Cory. 



26 DELIVERANCE OF CITIZENS, &c. [Marcli, 

" Bristol ss. New Bedford, January 31, 1839. 

Then personally appeared the above named John Cory, and made 

oath before me, that the foregoing statement by him subscribed is true. 

John Burrage, 

Justice of the Peace. 

" I, Richard Johnson, a free citizen of the State of Massachusetts, 
residing in New Bedford, aged sixty-four years, do declare, that I was 
in the aforesaid sloop Rodman with John Cory, and that his aforesaid 
statement is strictly true, — that I chartered said sloop for said voyage 
with said Captain Crowell, and as I was not a ' man hrfore the mast, a 
steward, or cook,' when I was arrested with Cory for the purpose of 
being committed to jail, the Captain represented to the magistrate be- 
fore whom I was carried that I was a part owner, — whereupon I was 
ordered to leave the state forthwith, or go to jail with the steward. 1 
chose the former, left immediately, and suffered a loss of near ^500 by 
being thus forcibly taken from my sloop — and all because I was guilty 
of a colored skin ! Richard Johnson. 

"Bristol ss. New Bedford, January 31, 1839. 

Then the aforesaid Richard Johnson personally appeared and made 
oath to the truth of the foregoing statement by him subscribed, before 
me. John Burrage, 

Justice of the Peace." 

Mr. Johnson is well known in New BcMlford, as a per- 
son of more than ordinary intelligence and respectability; 
and he states, in a letter to the undersig'ied, enclosing 
the affidavits, W'hich have just been read, that "others 
might he obtained on longer notice.'' Indeed, it is well 
known, that facts of this kind may be obtained from the 
captain of every northern vessel, that has visited Charles- 
ton with colored per.sons on board. 

There resides, at this time, in Boston, a colored man, 
by the name of George Tolliver, who has been incarce- 
rated seven different times, on arriving at southern ports, 
as a seaman, or steward, on board of northern vessels. 
On one of these occasions, there were confined in the 



1839.] HOUSE— No. 38. 27 

same prison with him twenty-five citizens of this State ; 
on another, seventj-five, belonging to different free 
states. This man, also, is more than ordinarily intelli- 
gent and respectable ; and he stated these facts, respect- 
ing himself, to the nndersigned, on the 9th ult., before 
Samuel E. Sewall, Esq., of Boston. It was also stated 
by him, that when thus imprisoned, he was denied a suf- 
ficiency of food, and compelled to perform various menial 
and disgusting offices in the prison ; though, at the same 
time, the captain was obliged to pay a full, if not an ex- 
orbitant, price for his board. Mr. Tolliver was, and is, 
prepared to furnish the names of a considerable number 
of freemen, who had been, like himself, imprisoned at 
the south, and under similar circumstances. 

On the lllh ult., the ship Chilo arrived at Boston, 
from Charleston, S. C, wiiii two colored men on board. 
The undersigned had an interview witii the mate of that 
ship. The account given by that gentleman of the treat- 
nient of those colored persons by the authorities of Char- 
Icstown, during the two months the Chilo lay at that 
port, corresponds in every essential particular with that 
given by Mr. Tolliver of himself, and confirms the truth 
of a remark made to the undersigned by another citizen 
of this State, who had, niany years ago, experienced the 
same oppressive treatment, and in the same place, " that 
South Carolina is as strict as ever in the enforcement of 
her safety laws, so called." — The male of the Chilo, as 
might be expected, complained strongly of the law, on 
account of the severity of its operation upon masters and 
owners of vessels, whom it subjects to great perplexity 
and trouble, in addition to the heavy expense it imposes, 
by depriving them of the services of their seamen, ajid 
compelling them to supply, as well as they may, the pla- 



28 DELIVERANCE OF CITIZENS, &c. [March, 

ces of those seamen, by the temporary employment of 
other persons. 

The undersigned is not in possession of any certain 
knowledge on the subject, but he has been given to un- 
derstand from various sources, that these " safety lavv^s, 
so called," are not now, and have not been for some 
years past, attempted to be enforced in respect of British 
vessels, visiting the ports of our southern states. This 
opinion derives confirmation from a statement recently 
made to the undersigned by a member of the Suffolk bar. 
The statement was substantially this. Several years 
ago, he went, in one of our ships, to Charleston, S. C. 
On board the ship were two colored persons. On arriv- 
ing in port, they were boarded by an officer, who de- 
manded of the captain the delivery of such persons of 
color as he might have with him, that they might be ta- 
ken ashore, and confined in prison during the continuance 
of the ship in that port. One of those colored seamen 
was permitted by the officer to remain on board, on the 
ground, alleged by the captain, of his being an Indian. 
The other, whose darker skin rendered his origin less du- 
bious, was sent by the captain on board of a British ves- 
sel, then lying in the harbor. And there, under the Red 
Cross of the English monarchy, he found that protection, 
which the aegis of his own American Eagle was not broad 
enough to extend to him. There has been, it is believed, 
no instance of the enforcement of the laws in question, 
with regard to British subjects, since 1826. In that year, 
four colored persons were taken from on board a vessel 
of that nation, at the port of Charleston, S. C. The 
event caused a deep sensation. And " old England,*' it 
is said, exhibited some tokens of a disposition to defend 
the honor of her insulted flag from any further and simi- 



1839.] HOUSE— No. 38. 29 

lar outrage that might be attempted upon it. The act 
was remonstrated against at Washington ; and if no defi- 
nite action was there had on the subject, it is understood, 
that there has since been no enforcement of these "safety 
laws" against subjects of Great Britain. 

The severity with which this class of the laws of slave- 
holding states operate on masters of vessels visiting the 
ports of such states, is scarcely less tolerable, than that 
which they visit upon our colored citizens employed on 
board of those vessels. The great inconveniences and 
burdensome expenditures to which those masters are sub- 
jected by the temporary imprisonment of their seamen 
when in southern ports, are by no means the least of the 
evils to which they are exposed by the operation of the 
laws in reference. They are exposed, under those laws, 
to the imposition of expenses still more burdensome, in 
the shape of fines, and to be visited with ignominious 
punishment by the incarceration of their own persons. 
If a captain leave a southern port — say a port of Virginia, 
for example — with a slave on board his vessel, he 
" shall," in the language of the statute of that state, al- 
ready quoted in this report, " be adjudged guilty of felo- 
ny, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a 
fine not less than five hundred dollars, and shall also be 
imprisoned in the jail or penitentiary house, for a period 
not less than two nor more than four years." And such, 
— according to a declaration of the same statute, — shall 
be the judgment, and such the penalty in every such case, 
though the fact of there being any such slave on board of 
said vessel were proved to have been utterly unknown, 
both to the captain, and to every other soul belonging to 
the vessel ! 

A captain of a vessel belonging to Fall River, in this 
5 



30 DELIVERANCE OF CITIZENS, &c. [March 

State, was, together with his mate and crew, subjected 
to treatment most unjustifiable and cruel, at Wilmington, 
North Carolina, under a law of that state, similar, though 
perhaps not quite equal in severity, to this of Virginia. 
Entirely without the knowledge of the captain, the mate, 
or any of the crew, a slave had secreted himself on board 
his vessel. The slave was discovered in consequence 
solely of a suggestion made by the captain himself, after 
those in search of him had given up the search, and were 
about to leave the vessel. Yet the captain, mate, and 
crew, were forthwith hurried to jail. The greatest in- 
dignity, violence of passion, and insult were manifested 
towards the captain. He, however, was bailed out ; and 
a bond of indemnity iiaving been given — for an action 
had been brought against him for the recovery of the fine 
of five hundred dollars — he was permitted to leave the 
state, and prosecute his voyage. Afterwards, the mate, 
having procured bail, was also delivered from prison. 
But some ten months elapsed, and the crew were still in 
confinement, exposed by their situation to great suffering. 
These facts in relation to the Fall River vessel, were 
testified to by Samuel Green, a citizen of Massachusetts, 
before a Committee of this Legislature, in 1836. At 
the time of their occurrence, Mr. G. was at Wilmington. 
Sometime afterwards, his business required that he should 
again visit the place; but so much bitterness and ill will 
had sprung up there against him, on account of the friend- 
ly regard he had manifested for the imprisoned seamen 
of the aforesaid vessel, that he was urged by his friends 
not to adventure thitiier. 

A newspaper, called the " Wilmington Press," and 
published at that place, in remaiking on this affair of the 
Fall River vessel, just after it had taken place, employed 
the following language : " And all this trouble, cost, and 



1839.] HOUSE— No. 38. 31 

distress, has been brought about, for what ? Nothing 
in the world but th;it stranoers will be meddling with 
our municipal laws, even to their infraction — laws that in 
no way affect them, neither in person or property, but which 
are essential to our self-preservation. They will intermed- 
dle although they know, that to carry away a slave, in- 
tentionally, is death on conviction ; and the commanders 
of vessels will be careless and negligent, although they 
know that they are liable to a fine of ^500, if a slave is 
found on board, even without their knowledge. We 
would, in the spirit of sincere friendship, warn them that 
the laws will he enforced — as heart-rending as the event 
would be to all, the dreadful penalty of the laws will 
be enforced, on the first conviction." — Comment on such 
sentiments were superfluous. 

Some of the laws belonging to the class under consid- 
eration may affect our captains very injuriously in another 
respect. For example: the law of South Carolina, which 
authorizes the imprisonment of our colored mariners dur- 
ing the continuance in her ports of the vessels to which 
they are attached, also provides, that if the captain of 
any such vessel should sail without taking on board those 
mariners, thus imprisoned, he shall himself suffer impris- 
onment, and pay a fine of one thousand dollars. 

In 1823, a petition, signed by captain Jared Bunce, 
master of one of the packets plying between Philadel- 
phia and Charleston, and forty-one others, also captains 
of American vessels, then lying at the port of Charleston, 
was presented to Congress. The petition affirmed this 
law of South Carolina to be contrary to the Constitution 
of these United States, and prayed Congress to adopt 
such measures as would release them from the oppressive 
situation in which that law had placed them. What dis- 



32 DELIVERANCE OF CITIZENS, &c. [March, 

position was made of this petition, the undersigned has not 
learned. He would be glad, were he able to state, that it 
was regarded with as much favor, as the remonstrance 
made at the same place, and against the same law, by cer- 
tain of the subjects of ( eorge IV. It may not be unim- 
portant to add, that captain Bunce had, on one occasion, 
when two "free persons of color, and native citizens of the 
United States," were taken from his vessel and impris- 
oned, " appealed to a court of South Carolina for a 
habeas corpus, to inquire into the cause of the arrest and 
detention of" those persons ; that the said writ being 
allowed by the said court, and the sheriff having returned 
that liiey had been arrested and imprisoned under tiie 
before mentioned act of 1822, and a motion having been 
made for their discharge on the ground that the said act 
was contrary to the Constitution of the United States, 
and the court having determined that the said act was 
not unconstitutional, the case in question was removed, 
by appeal, to the highest tribunal of the state, where, 
after argument, the said court being divided in opinion, 
the case was suspended, and the prisoners were deprived 
of the relief for which they moved." 

In reference to the facts which have now been detailed, 
the undersigned would respectfully submit, if some action 
ought not to be taken by this Legislature. Does not Mas- 
sachusetts owe it, alike to her citizens, and to her own 
dignity and honor, to utter her solemn protest against 
those laws of her sister states, which rob so many of her 
citizens of the " privileges and immunities," guaranteed 
to them by the Constitution of the United States? And 
is she not bound by the same reasons, to do what she may 
to protect those citizens in the enjoyment of their inaliena- 
ble rights ? 



1839.] HOUSE— No. 38. 33 

It has been seen, that, under the laws in question, cit- 
izens of Massachusetts, whose complexion chances to be 
le fair than that of the more fortunate race, going into 
those states for purposes of business, or happening to be 
driven thither by circumstances of unavoidable adversity 
even, may, though guilty of no crime, nor accused of any, 
be arrested and imprisoned as runaway slaves, and, if un- 
able to prove their freedom by the testimony of white 
men, be sold into slavery for life ; that citizens so arrest- 
ed and imprisoned, should they succeed in proving their 
freedom, would even then be doomed to the horrors of 
slavery, if not able to pay the expenses imposed on them 
for jailers' fees, board, and doctors' attendance; th it this 
might happen to men occupying the loftiest stations of 
trust and honor under the government of this Common- 
wealth — for here no legal obstacle, or, in the words of 
another report, lately presented to this House, " no re- 
straint, save that of prejudice, prevents the man of color 
from seeking the highest honors and holding the most el- 
evated offices of church or state;" that those citizens, on 
visiting certain southern ports as seamen, are always in- 
carcerated, and often subjected to great sufft-ring, 
during the continuance in such ports of the vessels to 
which they belong — besides being liable, should they 
chance to get left by their captains, to be sold into bond- 
age ; that, by this practice, the owners of such vessels are 
subjected to burdensome expenses, and the masters of 
them to great perplexity and trouble, as also to heavy 
fines and imprisonment, if by any means they should leave 
port without their imprisoned seamen ; and that the cap- 
tains of nil our vessels visiting southern states, whether 
there be or be not colored persons belonging on board, 
are exposed to the loss of their property, and to the igno- 



34 DELIVERANCE OF CITIZENS, &c. [March, 

ininj of incarceration, if a slave secrete himself on board one 
of their vessels, though he do so without the knowledge 
of the master, or of any of the crew. 

If a tithe of this injustice were inflicted upon our citizens 
by a foreign people, Massachusetts would be shaken from 
the centre to the circumference. And must she quietly 
endure it all, merely because it chances to be done by 
her own sister states ? Should she not, will she not, 
at least, lift up her voice against it ? And will she not, also, 
do what she may to protect and preserve the personal lib- 
erty of her citizens, however humble, even, may be the 
condition of those citizens? In the judgment of the un- 
dersigned, there can, there will, be but one answer to 
these interrogatories, by all who reverence and honor the 
state of tlieir nativity and cherish a fitting regard for 
the sacred rights of her citizens. He, therefore with en- 
tire confidence, offers for the adoption of the Legislature, 
the accompanying preamble and resolves. 

All which is respectfully submitted, 

GEO. BRADBURN. 



1839.] HOUSE— No. 38. 35 



CommoulMcaltl) of iilassacljustttjs. 



In the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty- 
Nine. 



RESOLVES 

Touching certain laws of slave-holding States, which 
affect the rights of citizens of Massachusetts. 



Whereas, under the laws of several states in this 
Union, a part of the citizens of this Commonwealth, vis- 
iting those states for purposes of business, and others 
driven thither by misfortune, may be, and, in point of 
fact, often have been, and do still continue to be, though 
entirely guiltless of crime, incarcerated in prisons, sub- 
jected to onerous fines, and in many instances sold into 
temporary, and not seldom into perpetual slavery; there- 
fore, 

1. Resolved, That this Legislature deem it a para- 
mount duty of the state, to protect its citizens in the en- 



36 DELIVERANCE OF CITIZENS, &c. [March, 

jojment and exercise of all the rights, to which, bj virtue 
of their citizenship, they are entitled. 

2. Resolved, That this Legislature do solemnly protest 
against the laws in question as a direct invasion of the 
sacred rights of citizens of this Commonwealth, as palpa- 
bly contrary to both the letter and the spirit of the Con- 
stitution of these United States, and as in utter deroga- 
tion of that great principle of the common law, which 
presumes every man to be innocent, and treats him as 
such, until he be proved guilty. 

3. Resolved, That this Legislature, not willing that so 
important a matter as the liberty of a citizen of Massa- 
chusetts should depend on the precarious bounty of indi- 
vidual benevolence, do hereby authorize His Excellency 
the Governor, whenever it shall be made to appear to His 
Excellency's satisfaction, that a citizen of this Common- 
wealth is imprisoned on suspicion of being a slave, to era- 
ploy, at the public expense, a suitable person as agent, 
whose duty it shall be, to procure the requisite proofs in 
the case, to proceed, if necessary, to the state where the 
individual is so imprisoned, to lay the matter before the 
proper authorities, and, having obtained the release of the 
said individual, to bring, or cause him to be brought, to a 
place of safety ; and that His Excellency be hereby em- 
powered to draw on the treasury of this Commonwealth 
for the expenditures of such agency and procedure. 

4. Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor be 
requested to transmit copies of this report and these re- 
solves to the Executives of the several states of this 
Union, and to each of our Senators and Representatives 
in the 26th Congress of the United States. 



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